You Came Back
by ImaginaryGirlxx
Summary: An accident on her trip to find Baelfire forces Emma to face certain people from her past. Can she forgive them? And will Henry ever learn to trust his mother after the lies she's told him? Based on 2x15 promo. Set towards the end of season 6 of House. Rating may change later.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Here's the start of my new fic. I hope you like it :) Let me know if you think it's something worth continuing. Just a quick note, in this story they found Neal in New Jersey, not Manhattan.**

**Disclaimer: As much as I've tried bribing people with cookies, I don't own House or OUAT.**

Emma rushed over to where Mr Gold had fallen; desperately hoping that he was alright. She couldn't see the extent of the damage that the man had done, but figured it must've been personal if he went straight for his heart. It seemed a common trademark amongst people from the Enchanted Forest, as she had realised.

"Gold, are you alright?" She asked, currently more concerned about her son's grandfather than the man that she has just hit.

Looking up, she saw Neal rushing towards Gold.

"What's going on?"

"One of your dad's enemies found us." Emma replied.

Neal glanced over at the figure to his side and felt his blood run cold.

"Hook." He stated simply. The realisation of who this man was dawned on Emma, but she didn't know why the pirate was familiar to Neal.

"You know him?" She asked.

It seemed as if Neal hadn't heard her, almost as if she wasn't even there, as a single word escaped from the young man's lips.

"Papa."

Seeing the pain of losing a parent in Neal's eyes sparked something in Emma that she hadn't felt in a long time. In a split second she'd gone from Emma Swan, the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and a woman who had hardened herself off to the world to the caring doctor she had been in a life that seemed so long ago.

"Quick, call 911!" She yelled at Neal as she started checking Gold's vitals. If she had given herself time to think about it, she would have been almost impressed with how quickly her doctor instincts had kicked in. Grabbing Neal's scarf, she pressed it firmly against the open wound, hoping that the pressure would slow down the bleeding until he arrived at the ER.

Henry, having noticed that Neal wasn't behind him, came bounding back down the stairs. He screamed slightly as he took in the scene in front of him.

"Neal, keep your scarf held here." Emma said. "And Henry I want you to sit with your dad until the ambulance get's here, ok kid? I need to see if Hook is alright."

"That's Captain Hook?" The young boy asked.

"Yeah." She responded, already making a start on checking the other man's vitals. She had hit him quite hard on the head but was thankful that he was still conscious by the time she reached him. "Are you ok? Can you hear me?" He nodded weakly, bringing his hand to his sore head.

"You're just as I remember you, Emma. Always so quick to attack. Very feisty." He smirked

"Good to see you're still your usual charming self." She said.

"No love, I believe you're mistaking me for your father there."

Emma was saved from answering when the sounds of sirens were heard in the distance. The two ambulances came to a stop outside the block of apartments and two EMTs burst through the door.

"Two Caucasian males. One with a stab wound to the chest." Emma stated on autopilot, gesturing to Mr Gold. "And the other blunt trauma to the back of the head. No signs of concussion but you should take him to the ER to get checked out." She briefly caught sight of Henry's confused face, knowing that she would probably have a lot of questions to answer later.

"Yes ma'am. Is anyone else injured." One of the EMTs asked her.

"No, we're fine." She said, as the emergency team started helping the two men into the ambulances. "Oh and one more thing, can you take them to Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital?"

"Princeton General is closer, ma'am."

"Just do it." She replied. The look on her face told the men not to mess with her. They started barking orders at each other, leaving Emma free to look after Henry.

"He's going to be ok." She assured him. "They both are. I'll make sure they are looked after."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter :) I would love to know what you think of it if you have a second to review at the end :) I know the timeline is a bit wrong but just go with it haha. And sorry in advance if the medicine is wrong here, I'm basing it off of what I remember from A level biology (which is not much).**

By the time Emma, Neal and Henry reached the hospital, both Mr Gold and Hook were already being treated. Emma was glad to see that the ER was still running as smoothly as it had when she left a couple of years ago. She knew that it was good and trusted everyone that used to be on her team, which was why she'd asked the ambulance to bring them to PPTH rather than Princeton General.

Henry had spent the entire cab journey trying to get answers out of his mother, while Neal just sat in a quiet state of shock. As persistent as Henry had been, Emma told him that she wouldn't answer his questions until later. She was too busy trying to gain control over her emotions as she came closer to having to face everyone she used to work with.

She had left her old life as Dr Allison Cameron behind when she got divorced from Chase, and was worried now what it would be like coming back to the hospital after over a year and seeing him again. She wondered if she was ready for that, and if she was ready to face House again.

After moving from New Jersey to Boston, Emma started to close herself off to everyone, knowing that caring too much had only managed to get her hurt in the past. Since then, so much had happened that she couldn't believe; things that the rational doctor in her almost refused to admit. Yet here she was: the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming; accompanied by Captain Hook, Rumplestiltskin, his son and his grandson (who also happened to be her son). She could only imagine what House would have to say on the matter.

Emma sat in the waiting area with Henry and Neal, the three of them so lost in thought and worry that they didn't see the figure of a brunette woman walking towards them.

"Cameron?" The woman asked.

Emma's head immediately snapped up.

"Cuddy?"

"Cameron?" Henry repeated quietly, wondering why the woman was calling his mother that.

"What are you doing here?"

Emma suppressed a small chuckle at the thought of what her old boss would've said to the real answer to her question, before giving her the edited version.

"A friend of ours got in a bit of a fight someone. They are in the ER now."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologised. She wasn't sure why she had assumed that she was there for a social visit, given how the three people had been acting when she approached them.

"Emma, who's Cameron?" Henry asked, tugging slightly at the sleeve of her coat to make sure that he had her full attention.

Now it was Cuddy's turn to be confused. "Who's Emma?"

"I changed my name when I left the hospital." She explained.

"You worked here?" Henry asked.

"It was before I moved to Boston. I went by the name Allison Cameron after one of my foster families changed it for me. I changed it back to my birth name when I left."

She wasn't given any more time to explain as a nurse from the ER came up to them.

"Mr Cassidy? Ms Swan?" She asked. Emma and Neal nodded. "Mr Jones is fine. He showed no signs of concussion and is free to go home. He's discharging himself as we speak."

"And my father?" Neal asked.

The ER nurse's gaze dropped momentarily and she started to look slightly awkward. Emma knew that look anywhere, having worn it herself so many times when it came to telling patient's family bad news.

"There were a few complications with Mr Gold's injuries. We have referred his case to our head of diagnostic medicine."

"Cuddles!" House yelled as he caught sight of his boss in the ER waiting area. "Do you have any idea which idiot paged me with a case? General Hospital is on. Someone is making me miss it and someone is going to get... Cameron?"

"House." Emma responded curtly.

"I didn't expect to see you back here. What is it? Don't feel that you're saving enough lives in Boston? Or did you just miss me?" He teased, pouting as he asked the last question.

"My life does not revolve around missing you House. I'm here for a friend, who just so happens to be your new case."

"Interesting." He mused.

"How is that interesting?" Emma asked. "And how the hell did you know I moved to Boston?"

Realisation dawned in both Emma and Cuddy's eyes.

"Lucas." They responded at the same time.

"Why on Earth would you ask my boyfriend to investigate Cameron?" Cuddy asked.

"She didn't tell me where she was going." House responded, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Because I didn't want you to know. What else did he find out?"

"Nothing. He lost you in Boston."

Emma chuckled slightly, amused that something as simple as changing her name had actually been able to baffle Lucas, and even House.

"It's been lovely to see you again Allison but I should get back to work. If you're staying here for a while it would be nice to get a coffee some time and catch up."

"I'd love to Lisa. I won't keep you any longer though, I'm sure you're very busy."

"When am I not?" The older woman giggled and hugged Emma before walking off back to her office.

At this point, House's team appeared as if from nowhere through the crowded hospital.

Without noticing who House was talking to, Taub started to describe the patient's condition to his boss.

"Patient's got an infection but..."

"Allison!" Chase exclaimed, cutting off whatever his colleague was about to say.

"Cameron?" Foreman asked, wearing much the same expression as Chase was. "What are you doing here?"

The rest of House's team all had similar questions, and no reservations about asking them all at once to their former colleague.

"Yes. Cameron is back. Can we get back to the medicine now?" House said, irritated. He'd already had this conversation once and had no desire to have it again.

"I'm not coming back House. I'm here because my friend's father is in a critical condition and, unfortunately, I now have to ask for your help."

Thirteen felt sympathy for the blonde woman and decided to try and steer the conversation back to their patient. "His body's got an infection but there's no elevated white count." She said. Cameron flashed her a grateful smile, which Thirteen returned. "He's not fighting it off. It's like he's not even trying."

"Hmmm... does anyone know where I could find a good immunologist at this hour?" House asked pointedly.

"No, House. I can't. I've got other things to worry about now. I can't drop my life to help you when you've got a perfectly good team who are more than capable of helping Mr Gold."

"But none of them are quite like you." House said, teasing her.

Foreman shrugged. "The man's got a point, Cam." He agreed. "We might need your expertise on this one."

"Emma, please." Neal pleaded. As much as he hated what his father had become he couldn't let him die, especially when they had just been reunited.

"Emma?" Chase questioned.

"Not now." She said shortly. The look in her eyes told Chase not to push the matter any further.

"Mom?" Henry asked.

"What Henry?"

"What about the 'M' word?" The young boy whispered.

"No."

"What 'M' word?" Taub asked.

"Magic." Henry replied with a smile.

"Magic?" House scoffed. "He's definitely your kid Cameron. With that and the chin you both seem to share."

"Ah yes the White family chin." She muttered.

"White?" House asked.

"Long story." Emma replied, really not wanting to get in to her complicated family tree. It was messed up enough when it just involved people from Storybrooke but adding in their real identities would not only take forever but would almost certainly get her committed to the psych ward and submit her to endless teasing and torturing from House.

"So, low white count could point to a strain of HIV." Taub cut in.

"It's unlikely given the patient's history." Emma replied.

"Try all you want Cameron, you and I both know you'll see this case through. Now Thirteen, go with Cameron and get me the patient's history and meet me up in diagnostics when you're done." He said, gesturing to Emma. "Foreman and Taub test his blood for HIV and you," he said, turning to Chase, "can go and be me in the Clinic."

Chase sighed and reluctantly took off towards the Clinic. He had hoped to get a chance to talk to Allison about their break up, but figured it would have to wait until later.

"I really should stay here and look after Henry." Emma said, reluctant to start working for House again. She was worried that she would get back to her old routines too quickly and wouldn't be able to leave. She couldn't stay here, not after just having found her family after 28 years of searching.

"I can keep an eye on him Em." Neal suggested. "It would give us a chance to bond if I'm going to come back to Storybrooke with you."

The blonde woman sighed. He had made a good point, and Neal coming back to Maine would make both Henry and Gold happy. Reluctantly, she agreed, promising Henry that she wouldn't be too long and would do her best to save his grandfather.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma and Thirteen were walking down the hall to get to Mr Gold's room when the all too familiar beeping of machines shocked them both out of their uncomfortable silence. Both doctors started running towards his room.

"Call a code!" Thirteen yelled after a split-second glance at his stats on the monitor.

"Paddles!" Emma screamed desperately, opening his hospital gown to reveal his chest. Thirteen didn't argue, knowing that the blonde woman was still a good doctor, and wheeled the crash cart over to her. "Charging. Clear!" She shouted as she shocked him. "Charging. Clear!"

It took three shocks to get his heart back into rhythm and Emma breathed a sigh of relief when the machine started beeping at a regular rate once more.

Her relief was short-lived; however, as Thirteen announced that he was comatose.

"Shit!" Emma exclaimed, running a hand through her hair.

"Well there goes our chance of getting a history." The brunette sighed.

"I'll see what I can give you. It won't be great but between me and Neal we've known him most of his life." She said, stretching the truth ever so slightly. _Well, what's a couple of hundred years?_ She figured, knowing that the history they gave would probably be of little help to the team.

"Ok, do you want to go straight up to diagnostics, update them on the patient and then tell the whole team? If we need Neal's input you can go and ask him later." Thirteen replied. Emma simply nodded and the two continued in silence to the diagnostics office.

Emma wasn't sure having House there while she tried to recite Mr Gold's colourful history was a good idea, but there wasn't much she could do about it. He already believed that everybody lied, so she had hope that he would take whatever she told them with a pinch of salt.

"Ah, the lesbian and the prodigal daughter return at last." House said as they walked into his office.

"Shut up House." Thirteen replied, throwing the blank file on his desk. "Patient had a heart attack and is now in a coma."

"So, no history." He stated. "That's incredibly helpful."

"Cameron said she could try and give us a history."

"Umm, it's Emma now."

House turned to face the blonde woman, who he saw was still standing tall and confident. He could hardly believe that she was the same timid doctor who walked into his office seven years ago. That said, he didn't like change and wasn't about to start calling her 'Emma'. Just saying the name in his head sounded wrong.

"_Cameron_. Can you give us the patient's history? And don't lie about it; you know how annoyed we all get when that happens." He said, putting on his best 'irritated boss' voice. "Shall we?" He asked, gesturing to the conference room adjacent to his office as the doctors followed him through and sat at the table in the middle of the room.

Emma sighed, and started to give her old colleagues the edited version of Mr Gold's history that she had been trying to figure out on the walk to the office.

"Well for the past 29 years he hadn't left Maine until two days ago to travel here." She started. "He was a soldier briefly before that but was sent home with an injury to his foot, which is why he has a limp. Other than that he's had a pretty clean medical history, to my knowledge."

"So you don't think it's HIV?" Foreman asked.

"If it was he could only have contracted it after Neal was born, and let's just say he's unlikely to have got it any other way."

"Any dangerous chemicals where he lives or at work?"

"He's a pawnbroker and he lives above his shop."

"Who knows what he could've been exposed to there. He could be working with all kinds of crap." Thirteen commented.

"Do you think Cuddy would authorise a trip to Maine for a home search?" House asked.

"Forget it, House. I doubt it will be anything in his shop." Emma answered. "My best bet is it's related to the stab wound."

"The immunologist doesn't think there's an underlying condition that's compromised his immune system and is stopping his body from producing white blood cells. Interesting." House commented.

"I wouldn't call it interesting, I'd call it looking at the facts and making a reasoned judgement." She argued. "Now if there's nothing else you need I should get back to my son. It's been a long day for him and we should probably check into a hotel."

She grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair and stood up to leave. She couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that it wasn't her lab coat, but brushed off the feeling when she remembered the life she had back in Storybrooke, with Henry and her parents.

"Everybody lies!" House said as he reached the door. "Even my innocent little lobby art."

"You're just annoyed that you never figured out I had a son." Emma responded, before quickly exiting the room in an attempt to postpone the inevitable questioning that she would get from House.

"I trust you can tell the family about the patient's status Dr Cameron." He yelled as she was on her way out. She nodded at him through the glass wall and carried on walking.

On her way back down to the waiting area, Emma thought back to what House said about her being 'innocent' and smirked when she thought of her killing a dragon and sword fighting with Captain Hook. She was definitely not living up to the 'innocent' image that House had of her. Although she didn't doubt that he knew she'd been in jail when she was eighteen, given how he'd had Lucas investigate her.

She saw Henry's face light up as she rounded the corner to the waiting area and tried to smile back. She hated giving families bad news about their loved ones, but knew it would be even harder to have to tell her own son.

"Mom!" He yelled as he ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey kid. Why don't you come and sit back down with Neal. We have some things to talk about."

Henry's face dropped, but he obediently went back to his recently vacated chair.

"Gold had a heart attack. We managed to stabilise him but he's slipped into a coma. I'm sorry." Emma said sadly.

She took a couple of seconds to take in their expressions. Neal's face was almost blank, empty of expression, unlike how he had been when they first found Gold injured. Henry looked as if he was holding back tears and Emma slowly pulled him into a gentle hug. Immediately he wrapped his arms tightly around her, as if he was scared that she would get sick as well.

"He's going to be ok, kid." She assured him. "Dr House is a brilliant doctor and I trust him and his team. They will save him."

"You don't know that!" He yelled, backing away from the hug.

"Henry, I'm sure you've figured out by now that I used to work for Dr House and let me tell you something. In the three years I worked with him I could probably count on one hand the number of patients we treated who didn't make it. He's amazing. If there's a cure for Gold he will find it, you have to trust us both on that."

"But what if he doesn't? What if there's no cure?" Henry asked frantically.

"There will be a cure kid. It's just a matter of finding it."

At this Neal spoke up. "Emma, I've had dealings with Hook before. We can't rule out that the cure might be something your old boss won't be able to find. It might be magic."

Emma sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd also considered that his illness might be caused by magic. She also knew that House wouldn't rest until he found a scientific cure. He wouldn't even entertain the possibility that magic existed, let alone that it could be the cure.

"I'll call Mother Superior and see if she has any ideas when we get to a hotel room." She said, preferring not to talk about magic so openly in a hospital full of people. Neal gave her a confused look as to why she was calling a nun about magic. "The Blue Fairy." She said to clarify, earning a small smile from Henry.

"Why don't you just stay with me?" Neal suggested. "It would save you a lot of money."

"Are you sure you'd have enough room for both of us?"

"I'll take the couch and you and Henry could share my bed."

"Are you sure?" Emma asked. She was a bit unsure about taking him up on the offer after not seeing him for ten years, especially as they didn't part on the best of terms in her eyes.

"You're trying to save my dad's life. It's the least I can do. Plus I want to get to know my kid."

"Ok. Thanks Neal. I'll page House and let him know we're leaving. It's been a long day and visiting hours are over anyway. I'll take you up so see him tomorrow morning."

The conversation was dropped as they gathered their coats and bags and headed out of the hospital. Emma signalled for a cab and they got in, driving silently back to Neal's apartment, where Emma was sure she'd be faced with endless questions about her past that she really didn't have the energy to answer after the difficult day they'd had.

**A/N: I hope you've liked this so far :) I'd love to know what you think of it. Remember, reviews make me post faster *hint hint* **


	4. Chapter 4

Later that evening, once they were back at Neal's apartment, Emma finally agreed to answer any questions that Henry had. Neal was taking a shower and Emma and Henry were sitting on the couch. Emma had made her son a mug of hot cocoa and poured herself a glass of wine. After the insane day that she'd had she didn't feel that hot cocoa would be strong enough.

Henry was sat with his legs curled up under himself, facing his mother, while Emma seemed to adopt a position that made her feel a lot more like professional Allison Cameron than Emma Swan. She sat with a straight back and her legs on the floor, but shifted her position slightly to face Henry. This confused Henry slightly. He was not accustomed to seeing his mother acting so stiff and professional.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Henry brought up the thoughts that had been going through his mind since they arrived at the hospital. Now that the shock had worn off and there was no one around to hear them in case he mentioned magic, he decided just to tell Emma what he thought.

"You should've told me you were a doctor." Henry started. "I wanted to get to know you and you kept half of your life from me. You lied about my dad. I really thought you were different from her."

Those words hurt Emma more than Henry could have known, and no less than they had when he first said them to her a few hours earlier. It wasn't like she didn't expect him to be angry at her for lying, but the fact that she compared her to the Evil Queen made her feel as if she couldn't have possibly failed him more as a parent.

"I'm sorry Henry. I know I should've told you. It was selfish of me not to, on both counts. Both times, things ended badly for me and I didn't want to bring it up again or burden you with that."

"Why should I believe you?"

"I know you have no reason to trust me, Henry, but I'll tell you everything now, if you want me to. I promise I won't lie to you kid. Not again." Emma could feel tears starting to form in her eyes, but pushed them down as best she could. Henry didn't need to see her cry on top of everything else. "I can't lose you Henry. You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love you."

"I love you too mom." He replied.

"So, where do you want to start?" She asked Henry. She wasn't really sure about what to say, but was willing to try anything to earn her son's trust back.

She had done as much as was possible to distance herself from her old life and all the pain that it had caused her that she never even considered that someone would find out she'd lied. Hell, when she'd left PPTH she hadn't even considered that the son she'd given up for adoption eleven years ago would suddenly come back into her life. Everything that had happened since then, well, she was still having to pinch herself to make sure that it wasn't all some crazy and elaborate dream.

"You're a doctor?" He clarified. Emma just nodded. She wasn't really sure what else she could say to that. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"When I left the hospital, I left on pretty bad terms with some of the people I worked with. I just wanted to do all I could to forget about it." She paused, taking a breath. "I tried working at another hospital for a month or two but I couldn't do it. I guess it was just too different from Princeton Plainsboro, the hospital we were at today. It was both the best and the worst place I've ever worked."

"Why?" Henry asked.

"When I worked with Dr House I loved my job. I loved my colleagues and the excitement that came with finding out what was wrong. I loved the satisfaction gained from saving someone's life and seeing them and their families so happy."

"So what changed to make you hate it so badly?"

"After I quit Houses team and started working in the ER, I got married to Dr Chase. The Australian doctor who you met earlier?" She asked, trying to refresh his memory. Henry nodded as he recognised who his mother was talking about.

"You were married?"

"It... it didn't end well. I found out that he'd killed one of our patients on purpose. I couldn't stay with him after that. He'd changed too much since I first met him. House had changed him. I left a couple of days after I learned the truth. That's when I moved to Boston and changed my name. I started trying to find my parents, which is sort of how I became a bail bondsperson."

"And that's when I found you." He finished. Emma nodded. "If Dr Chase killed someone, why hasn't he been arrested?"

"No one ever found out. He faked a test result so that he would be put on the wrong treatment. They covered it up and he didn't tell me for over a month. I still wish I didn't know."

Henry moved over on the couch to hug his mother. She was slightly shocked at the gesture, given how angry he had just been, but she wrapped her arms around him anyway, relishing at the comfort she got from the embrace with her son. She had been so worried that she would lose him again to Regina or Neal but she breathed a sigh of relief at the warm gesture. _He doesn't hate me_, she thought happily.

Before she could stop herself, Emma was crying. Tears of joy ran down her face at the thought of being accepted by her son again, even after all the lies she had told him, but they were accompanied by so many other emotions that she needed to release. Going back to Princeton Plainsboro had brought up a lot of buried feelings: guilt for leaving a job where she could really help save lives; hatred towards House for everything he had done, and towards Chase for what he had become; sadness at the thought of all the good friends she had left behind there; and most prominently strong feelings of love for House. Despite everything that had happened, and as much as she hater herself for it, she still loved him. To her there was no question: it had always been him.

Henry looked up as he felt Emma's body shaking with the tears.

"Mom, are you ok?"

"Yeah kid, I'm fine." She said, wiping her eyes. "It's just been an emotional day."

Henry immediately pulled her back into the embrace and Emma couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

Neither of them noticed that Neal had finished in the shower and was looking on at the pair with a smile. For the first time in so long he finally felt like he had a family. Even if things were rocky between him and Emma, he had always loved her and wanted to do whatever he could to win her back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter :) I might not be able to update so frequently over the next couple of weeks as I've got a load of essays due in as it's coming up to the end of term. I hope you like this and I promise those of you who want it will get some Hameron scenes soon :)**

Once Emma was sure that Henry was asleep, and Neal was watching some television show that she had no interest in, she finally felt that she could relax. She hadn't had a chance to properly sit down since the flight, and that was by no means a comfortable journey.

She knew that she'd got off very lightly earlier with the lack of questioning from her former co-workers. Surprisingly, Chase had been on good behaviour, minus a couple of strange looks that she'd caught him shooting in her direction when he thought she wasn't looking. They hadn't spoken since their divorce was finalised and she knew that he, along with maybe House, would probably have the most questions. Despite being married to her, he had no idea about the part of her life she'd kept hidden from anyone at the hospital. The most they knew was that she had been arrested at seventeen, which was also a slight lie but she shaved a year off in order to put anyone off her trail.

Despite their differences, Emma was happy to see Foreman again. They'd become good friends in the few years before she left, although she still held a slight grudge against him for stealing her article and trying to infect her with a deadly disease. Then she thought about everything she'd been through and the people she'd met since then and realised that he was a good guy at heart but sometimes put his own interests first a little too much.

Thirteen and Taub were just colleagues. She'd only really spoken to them about work but could see herself as being good friends with them if she'd stayed a bit longer. Especially Dr Hadley; she would have been happy to have a female friend at work who wasn't her boss and she wasn't theirs.

And House, well, that was a whole other can of worms that she wasn't quite ready to open up.

"We should probably talk about all this." Neal said once the commercials started, tearing Emma sharply from her thoughts.

"We did talk."

"Without the yelling." He clarified with a smirk. "I know you can be reasonable Emma. We need to talk."

"About what?"

"Us, Henry, everything that's happened since we last met." He answered.

"There is no us. There was a long time ago but you ruined that." She said shortly.

"Emma..."

She cut him off. "Henry is your son and you're more than welcome to see him. It's not fair to keep you apart and it probably wouldn't work anyway. But he's not flying out to New Jersey all the time and we're not moving away from Storybrooke. If we did we'd piss off people who are a lot scarier and more powerful than you." She said firmly, and rather harshly. "And nothing that has happened in my life since you left me is of any concern to you." Emma finished, wearing a look that told Neal not to argue.

"What if I want it to be my concern?" He asked, ignoring the 'shut up or I'll make you' glare that he was getting from the blonde sitting across from him on his couch.

Emma's eyes widened at this, but she tried to push away the shock.

"I don't think that's a good..." She started, but this time it was Neal who cut off whatever she was about to say.

"Emma, please listen."

"No, Neal, I won't listen!" She said, trying to keep her voice quiet enough so as not to wake her son who was asleep in the next room. "You left me! You broke my heart and you left me to spend almost a year of my life in jail. I was pregnant and had to give away _our_ baby because I knew I'd never be able to raise him on my own."

"Emma..." He pleaded.

"No. You had your chance and you blew it because the words of a wooden boy meant more to you than whatever love you claimed to have felt for me. Now if you don't mind I'm going to bed. I can't deal with this right now on top of everything else." She said, standing up and walking over to where her son lay asleep. She got into bed and sighed, knowing that she'd probably be in for a very sleepless night.

To her surprise, Emma awoke the next morning feeling almost refreshed, meaning that despite her mind running at about one hundred miles an hour she had at least managed to get some sleep.

Henry seemed more talkative throughout the morning as they got ready to go back to the hospital, and for that Emma was thankful. She had hated those few hours that he was mad at her. Emma wasn't naïve though, she knew that it would take a while to completely earn back his trust but they had made a start and she could only hope that their relationship continued to make progress.

When they arrived at the hospital, Emma took them straight up to Mr Gold's room. Most of the nurses still remembered the kind ER doctor and let her through without asking questions. Of course, the rumour mill had been going crazy since she arrived the day before but it seemed they knew better than to ask questions.

"Here's his room." She said, opening the door for Henry and Neal. As she entered her eyes automatically flashed to the monitor on the screen. Relieved to see that in that moment everything was still normal, she picked up his chart and scanned through to see if any progress had been made on his case by House's team. Once she had finished taking all the information in, she turned to Henry. "I want you to stay with Neal, ok kid? I'm going to see if I can do anything to help Dr House." She turned her attention to Neal. "There's a vending machine just down the corridor to your left and we passed the cafeteria on the way in if you need something to eat or drink. I'll be as quick as I can. Don't let him out of your sight and text me if you leave the hospital."

Neal nodded and immediately began to focus on his father. He held his hand and looked down sadly at the old man lying on the bed.

Before she left the room, Emma opened up Gold's hospital gown in order to get a better look at the infected wound. Luckily, it didn't seem much worse than when they had left the night before. It meant that they might have a bit longer to figure out what was wrong, providing that his condition remained stable.

"I'll see you in a bit." She said as she left the room. "Be good for Neal, kid."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the last couple of chapters :)**

**SisterRose94: Snow will appear a couple of times in the next few chapters but I have no plans to include David or Regina yet. I'll see where my muse takes me though :)**

"Cameron!" House exclaimed as she entered the conference room. "I knew you couldn't resist it."

"I'm just coming back to help my son's grandfather. Then I'm going back to Maine." Emma said with certainty. There was no way she could let herself get brought back in to this life, especially after she'd just found her family. "So, have you found anything knew?" She asked.

Foreman started to fill her in on what had happened after she'd left. "We tested for all the usual poisons that present with puss similar to that but everything was negative. We still have no idea what is wrong with his immune system and..."

"What he's trying to say is that my team are useless and have found nothing." House finished for him. "Go and run the tests again. We know there's a poison there. You idiots just need to find it." He instructed.

The team sighed as they got up to leave. Emma started to follow them when House called after her.

"Not you Cameron!"

She turned round to face him. "What?"

"We need to have a little chat." House's team shot her apologetic glances through the glass wall, apart from Chase who had walked ahead in an attempt to distance himself from his ex wife. "You didn't think you'd be able to get off that lightly did you?"

"What do you want, House?"

"I want to know what you've been up to these past couple of years. And what's with the kid?"

"He's my son. I had him while I was in jail and had to give him up for adoption. He came and found me when I moved to Boston."

"So how did you end up in Maine?"

"I drove him home to his adoptive mother and it turns out my birth parents lived in the same town." She responded, cutting out some major details of the story. "We sorted out our problems and now I live with them and Henry."

"Happily ever after? Sounds just like you, Cameron." Emma tried to stifle a laugh, but found herself failing quite spectacularly. "What?" House asked, confused by the young woman's reaction.

Something about Cameron just wasn't adding up since she returned yesterday. He was going to have to dig around and try and find out exactly what she was hiding. She's never really been a good liar and House had almost always been able to see right through her. There was a lot that she wasn't telling him and he was determined to discover what it was.

"Oh, it's nothing." She said, trying to brush it off. "It's just Henry is a bit obsessed with fairytales at the moment."

"And you don't have the heart to tell him that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows?"

Emma was saved from answering when her phone started buzzing in her pocket. Seeing her mother's name on the caller ID, she apologised to House and answered the call,

House listened intently to what Emma was saying, wondering what was so urgent that she had to answer her phone in the middle of their conversation.

Meanwhile, Emma was busy trying to reassure her panicking mother.

"Mary Margaret, I'm fine. Henry's fine. It's just going to take us a bit longer to get back that's all. We need to stay here with Gold."

"_You said you were helping him?"_

"I'll explain everything later, ok? Just stop worrying. We'll be back soon."

"_I'm your mother. It's my job to worry about you, and about Henry."_

"You do realise I spent a good six years of my life working here? I'm completely safe."

"_But with Hook..."_

"Hook's gone. He's probably fled back to Storybrooke by now. He's smart enough to know he shouldn't be anywhere near Gold when he gets better."

'Who was Hook?' House wondered to himself.

"_Why didn't Gold do anything to him? You and I both know him and that doesn't sound like him at all."_

"He's powerless here. He can't use..." Emma stopped herself, remembering that House was still listening to everything she said. "He can't do anything right now. Oh, and that reminds me. Can you ask Mother Superior to call me when she gets a chance? Other than Regina, she's the only one who might know if we can do anything outside of Storybrooke."

'Powerless? He can't use _what_?' This confused House even more, adding another piece to the puzzle that he'd been obsessing over since last night. There was obviously something that Cameron was omitting from her conversation for his sake and he wanted to know what it was.

He considered talking to Wilson but figured he'd have more use talking to a brick wall. The oncologist had always seen the best in Cameron, as had everyone in the hospital, so asking them about anything strange and suspicious going on in the young doctor's life seemed futile. This was his puzzle to solve and he wouldn't rest until he had his answers.

"_I will do. Stay safe Emma."_

"I'll be fine." Emma replied firmly, before laughing to herself. "You know, sometimes I wonder how I ever doubted Henry when he said you were my mother. You were always so over-protective, even before..." _The curse_, she implied, not wanting House to hear. "Anyway I should probably get going and check on Henry. I'll call you tonight, Snow."

'Why did she call her 'Snow'?' House wondered. He was sure earlier she'd referred to the stranger on the other end of the line as Mary Margaret. And then she had mentioned something about the woman being her mother. For some unknown reason, his mind wondered back to the comment that Emma had made when he first saw her and her son about the White family chin. _Snow White_. No, his rational mind concluded. Now he was just being ridiculous. Snow White was a fairytale character. Maybe he should stop obsessing over this puzzle. If he started believing that storybook characters were real there was no way he would be able to solve his case and save the man that obviously meant something to the younger doctor and her son.

"Sorry about that." Emma said as she hung up the phone, bringing House sharply out of his thoughts and the rather odd path that they had taken. "I swear that woman treats me like I'm still a child sometimes."

"You mom?" He asked.

Emma nodded. "I should've known you'd be listening in." She sighed; glad that she'd thought to keep her mouth shut about magic and the curse.

"I just want to know what's been going on with my favourite lobby art who just loves me so much." He pouted.

"Shut up House." She said, inwardly cursing herself for not being able to think of a good comeback. She decided it would be best to just keep her mouth shut about the second comment, in hope that he didn't realise the truth in his statement. Of course, this was House. He'd figure it out eventually if he hadn't already but she was more worried about him learning about her family and her life back in Storybrooke at that moment.

"Come on Cameron. You can't run away from true love, no matter how hard you try." House teased her.

"You're an ass." She replied. "And you wouldn't know true love if it smacked you in the face since you've spent the majority of the last decade keeping everyone at arm's length and making yourself miserable."

House was surprised at how much her words had hurt him just then, although he would never have let her see that.

"And what would you know about true love then?"

"A lot more than you do." Emma said, trying to keep her cool. Her mind wondered back to when Rumplestiltskin told her that she was the product of true love and how powerful that had made her. "Now if you don't mind I need to get back to Henry. Have one of your team come and find me if you need me for anything other than to pry into my private life and insult me."

Seconds later House found himself alone in his office, his mind spinning at record speed as he tried to process the last few minutes. Why had he cared so much about what Cameron said about him not knowing anything about love? How much did he really know about love? What was going on with his former employee and why was she keeping the details from him? Who were Snow and Hook, and why did they sound like they could be Snow White and Captain Hook? And worst of all, why couldn't he stop thinking about the pretty blonde woman who had just come back into his life?

He had no idea how much time had passed when he was interrupted by his team as they walked back through the glass door.

"The tests were negative." Thirteen said, dejectedly.

"Run them again." He stated, not in the mood for this.

"We've already run them twice." Foreman replied. "Face it, House. We're not going to find something. We need to start thinking outside the box."

"Thirty one! Go and get Cameron."

"I think we can handle this on our own." Chase said. He was not in the mood for seeing Cameron again.

"We've come up with nothing so far." Taub commented.

House turned back to Thirteen. "Why are you still here?" He asked; his voice slightly raised as the stress of everything that was happening started to take its toll on him. He'd been feeling like he was on an emotional rollercoaster after so long of being closed off.

Thirteen left without another word, thankful for an excuse to get away from an obviously pissed off House.

She found Emma in Mr Gold's room. From outside she could see her sat on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, her son leaning against her shoulder. It didn't escape her notice that the young man, who she assumed was her patient's estranged son, was not in the room with them. She could hear their conversation faintly and decided to wait a couple of minutes before interrupting the apparent intimate moment where Emma seemed to be comforting Henry.

"What should I call him?" Henry asked.

"Your father?" Emma clarified.

"Yeah. I mean, do I call him Baelfire, Neal, or can I call him Dad?"

"I think you'll have to ask him that. He might not want to keep the name of Rumplestiltskin's son. They didn't end on good terms."

"I know. The book said he chose magic over his own child." Henry replied, thinking back to the stories he'd read. "Just like my mom." He said quietly.

"Hey, kid, you don't have to worry about Regina any more. I'm your mom and you know that I will always put you first."

Henry leaned over and hugged Emma. Once they had broken apart, Thirteen took this as her queue to enter. She wasn't really sure what they'd been talking about when they mentioned magic and Rumplestiltskin, but figured Emma was just playing along with her son's fantasies.

"Cam..." She paused as the blonde woman looked up. "Urmmm... Emma." She smiled, and received one in return.

"Dr Hadley." Emma greeted the younger doctor.

"You can call me Remy." She smiled.

Emma nodded. "Is there any news?" She asked.

"The tests were all negative. House sent me to come and get you for the differential."

"Can't he do it without me?" Emma said, gesturing with her head towards Henry as if to say she wanted to stay with him.

"You know how stubborn he is." She replied, rolling her eyes and causing the older woman to laugh. "He won't start until you come up there."

"I don't want to leave Henry here on his own."

"I could come with you!" He said excitedly.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea." Emma responded, not wanting him to spend any more time around House than necessary. He looked at her with pleading eyes before she sighed and gave in. They both knew that she couldn't resist giving him what he asked for when he gave her that look.

Henry bounced off of his chair and headed to the door, following Thirteen who smirked at his antics. It made her long for the days when a pleading look would get her anything she wanted from her own mother and she was hit with a twinge of sadness. It seemed that Emma had noticed as she grabbed the younger woman's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, recognising the lonely child in the strong doctor.

The three of them reached the diagnostics office and Emma tried, unsuccessfully in her eyes, to prepare herself to face House again after their conversation earlier.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to everyone who reviewed the last chapter :) I've decided that writing this is a lot more fun than my essay on perceptual aftereffects, which is why you got this next chapter so quickly :)**

The team sat for what felt like hours discussing the possible causes behind Mr Gold's infection and why he had become immune-compromised. Henry, for the most part, just sat quietly next to Emma as theories and long words that he didn't understand were thrown back and forth around the room like tennis balls. He still agreed with Neal, thinking that there was something magic about the poison which meant that Dr House would never be able to find the cure with science.

"We've checked for clots and tumours that could be restricting blood flow to the site of infection and found nothing." Taub said, in response to something that another doctor had suggested. Henry wasn't even trying to keep track of where the conversation was going any more.

"What about leukaemia?" Chase asked.

"It could also be lupus, causing the low white count." Emma suggested.

"No skin lesions or rashes." Chase argued.

"Unless you just haven't noticed them." She spat back. Turning to House, she continued. "Rashes and skin lesions are typical of lupus but it's not definitive. Some patients never present with a rash."

"It's never lupus." House said tiredly. Emma gave him a pointed look. "Ok, fine. Get an ANA for lupus and page Wilson for a consult on leukaemia. Chase, check the patient for rashes and lesions and meet me back up here when you're done."

Henry turned to his mother. "What are they checking for?" He asked as the other doctor's left the room, leaving him alone with Emma and Dr House, who had pulled out his Gameboy as soon as they'd left. Although Henry was oblivious, Emma knew that he was probably listening in to whatever they said.

"It's complicated, kid."

"My whole life is complicated." He stated. "My adoptive mom's mother is my step-great-great-grandma who wants to kill most of my family. I think I can handle complicated."

Emma smirked. If Henry could understand their family tree she was sure she could explain their theories in a simple enough manner for him to grasp the general concepts.

"Our family is pretty messed up isn't it." She joked, before becoming more serious as she started to tell Henry what the diseases that they were testing for were. "Ok, so leukaemia is a cancer of the blood. We are asking a specialist, Dr Wilson. He's a good doctor so if it is that I know that Gold will be looked after. And lupus is a complicated disease. The body starts to attack itself, which is why the stab wound isn't getting better." She said, trying to explain it in the simplest way to the young boy. "I know it's scary, kid, but we will find out what's wrong with him and do whatever we can to make him better." Emma reassured him, seeing the worried look on his face that had appeared immediately after she'd mentioned cancer.

"I never thought something like this would happen to him. He's been so healthy as long as I've known him. He's never even had a cold." He stated. "Even back in Storybrooke..."

Emma interrupted him, knowing where his thought processes were heading and not wanting House to hear.

"Back in Storybrooke he knew he was safe, and from what I gather he had some power over Dr Whale so he knew if anything did happen he would get the best possible care." She finished for her son, staring pointedly at the older doctor in the room in an attempt to stop her son from saying something that she didn't want House to know. Leaning over to hug her son, she whispered quiet reassurances in his ear as he let himself melt into his mother's embrace.

Emma knew what he was going through, she'd felt the same when she found out her fiancé had cancer. She knew that there were horrible diseases out there but other people got them. Until that moment it never properly occurred to her that they could happen to someone she loved. And Henry, being so young, was probably even more shocked that Mr Gold could have cancer or some other potentially fatal illness. She rationalised, however, that the man was very old. Physically, of course, he was a lot younger, but he was still a prime age for developing some of these conditions.

House took in the scene in front of him. It made him feel almost warm inside to see his Cameron comforting her young child when he was upset. He didn't know what made him start thinking of her as _his_ Cameron, but liked the fuzzy feeling that came with that as well. It was something he had felt around Stacy when they were going out.

He was reminded of the time Cameron had spent working for him. Sure, he'd found her attractive. Any man would have to be blind not to see how beautiful she was. But that was where the attraction stopped. She'd always been too good and moral, whereas House was manipulative and, basically, an ass. But since she'd come back there was something different about her. She was no longer lost, searching for her family and for love. She was stronger and finally had the balls to stand up to him. House appreciated this, as he had done with Stacy. He started to wonder if he was beginning to have feelings for the young woman and wished that he had someone to talk to about it. His only real friend was Wilson and he was such a hopeless romantic that he would jump on the 'House loves Cameron' bandwagon as soon as the mere possibility of an attraction was mentioned to him.

The three of them were sat in silent thought when the shrill ringing of Emma's phone broke them out of their daze. Emma saw that the call was from Mother Superior and excused herself from the room to take it, knowing that random strangers walking through the corridor were less likely to pick up on what she was talking about than House.

"Henry, keep an eye on Dr House and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I need to take this." She instructed, hoping that House would look after her son while she was outside the room.

Once she had left, House saw his opportunity to get some answers from Henry without Emma trying to cover up whatever he was trying to say.

"Do you know who's calling your mom?" He asked.

"I don't know. Grandma was meant to ask Mother Superior to call her." Henry replied.

"Why does Cameron want to speak to a nun?"

"Her name is Emma." Henry said sternly. He didn't know House that well and wasn't accustomed to his constant teasing and hatred of change but he didn't want him calling his mother by a different name. "And she isn't a nun. Emma thinks she might be able to help."

This confused House. The Cameron he knew trusted his medical judgement, for the most part. Why was she calling a nun who wasn't a nun for help with _his_ case? He decided to address the young boy's former comment first. "Then why did you both call her Mother Superior?"

"It's her fake identity."

"What's her real name?"

"I don't know. Everyone just calls her 'Blue'." Henry stated.

"Why?"

"I don't think my mom wants me to tell you."

House sighed. If this kid had even a small part of his mother's stubborn nature there was no way he would get an answer out of him, and he knew it would be a waste of his time trying.

"So why does..." He paused, the name not coming naturally to him. "_Emma_... need the help of this nun? Please tell me it doesn't have anything to do with my patient. And worse, you'd better not tell me she's found God in Maine."

"I told you she's not a real nun. She's the blue fairy. Mom wants to know if there's any way Mr Gold's illness is caused by magic and if she can cure him away from Storybrooke." Henry said angrily. The older doctor was starting to annoy him to the point where he didn't realise what he had just told him until it was too late.

Luckily, House just laughed at him. It was clear that he didn't believe a word that Henry had said, putting it down to the imagination of a young boy. The pair were saved from saying anything more when Emma came back into the room.

Addressing Henry, she relayed an edited version of what was said.

"Mother Superior thinks it's possible, but she's not sure. She's getting Leroy to test some of his latest batch outside and will let me know if she thinks it will work." She said, hoping that she hadn't given anything away. The plan was to see if fairy dust maintained it's power across the town line. She just hoped that no one had to lose their memory in order for them to test her theory.

"Cameron, what are you talking about?" House asked, annoyed that he was clearly missing out on some inside code between mother and son.

"It's none of your business, House."

"You know, that kid of yours has a very vivid imagination; talking about fairies and magic."

"What's your point? He's a child." She reasoned, not mentioning that she knew every word that Henry said would have been true. Knowing what House was like and how rude he could be, she told Henry to wait outside so as to spare his feelings.

"You should take him to see a shrink." House suggested once Henry had left the office.

"I did. He's convinced he was Jiminy Cricket." Emma laughed.

"And yet he's your son. How does that work?"

"He's a smart kid." Emma replied, arguing her son's case. "He was able to track me down in Boston and find my real parents, something which I've spent most of my adult life trying to do." Of course, she didn't mention that they had been cursed and didn't legally exist, nor that it's unlikely that they would have noticed their relationship if not for Henry, given that they looked the same age as her.

"Oh I'd love to know what little Cameron's parents are like." House said, acting like an enthusiastic child.

"They can't come here, House. And I've told you before, it's Emma now."

"Awww come on _Cameron_." He whined, knowing just how to annoy the young woman. "You conveniently managed to meet my parents, remember?"

"Just imagine Snow White and Prince Charming and you'll be pretty close to knowing what my parents are like." She smirked.

"Another one of your kid's theories?" He asked.

"You could say that." Emma replied, before swiftly exiting the office and leading Henry back to Mr Gold's room, leaving House to wonder what she meant.


	8. Chapter 8

By the time Emma and Henry reached Gold's room, Chase was just finishing checking for rashes and skin lesions.

"Hi." He said when he looked up from his patient to see Emma.

"Hi Robert." Emma greeted him.

"No lesions or rashes. It's probably not lupus." He informed her, and Emma was sure that she could detect a hint of smugness in his voice.

"We have to wait for the ANA results to confirm."

"Yeah." He said awkwardly, not knowing what else he could say.

"Listen, Robert, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what happened before I came to work here. It was a part of my life I was trying to forget, but I know that I should've told you. Please can we put it behind us?"

"You lied to me." He stated.

"And you were completely honest throughout our entire marriage?" She asked rhetorically.

"Should we really be talking about this here?" Chase said, gesturing to Henry.

"He already knows."

"Look, I've got to go. I'll see you around."

Chase left the room, leaving a hurt Emma behind him. She hated what their relationship had become and could feel tears forming in her eyes but pushed them away for Henry's sake. He didn't need to see her cry over this.

"Mom, can I go and get lunch?" Henry asked.

"Sure kid, let's go." She said, putting on a fake smile as she led him towards the cafeteria.

It seemed that luck, or whatever higher power was out there, was finally on Emma's side for the rest of the day as she was not bothered by House or his team. Neal had returned and was currently watching Henry, giving Emma a chance to talk to Wilson for the first time since returning to the hospital. She wanted to know if they were still thinking it could be cancer but had no desire to talk to House at that moment in time. She could only hope that he'd let her comment about her parents slide and forget about it before she next saw him. Of course, she knew it was a long shot. House obsessed over every detail until he found an answer, which was not the best quality for someone to have when you were trying to hide the truth about your fairytale parents from them, as Emma had come to notice.

She came to a stop outside Wilson's office and knocked politely on the door. Wilson looked up from the file that he was reading, realising that it wasn't House as he would've barged straight in, and invited her in to his office.

"Allison! Hi, how are you? I heard you were back." He said, slightly surprised to see the blonde woman standing by his door. "Come on in." He smiled.

Emma walked in and sat on the couch, smiling at Wilson for the invite.

"Hi James." She greeted. "I guess you've talked to House by now then?"

"Yeah, and Cuddy. Why are you back here?"

"My friend's father is House's new patient, the one I'm assuming he's just asked for a consult on?"

"Mr Gold?" Emma nodded. "I think leukaemia is unlikely, but they are running more tests in the lab now. We'll know soon."

"Thank you." She replied. "Actually James, I was hoping I could ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Mr Gold's condition, have you seen anything like it before?" Emma asked.

"I can't say I have, no. Surely you know you'd be better off asking House that question."

"I was just wondering if you thought House would be open to..." She paused, wondering how to word her question. "Unconventional treatments?"

"Well you know as well as I do that he's never really been one for following the rules." James answered.

"I know, it's just this treatment is not exactly medical." She said. "It's not even really scientific."

"In that case, absolutely not." Wilson said with a slight chuckle. "House likes cold, hard facts. He believes in medicine and he believes in reasons, but you already know this. What exactly are you thinking of?" He asked.

Emma paused. She wasn't really sure how to answer that. On one hand, she could tell Wilson the truth and hope that he wouldn't think she was crazy, which was a long shot, and wouldn't go running to House, which was an even bigger long shot.

On the other hand, she could just lie and hope that he didn't think too much of it. Unfortunately for her in this moment, Wilson cared. This meant that if there was something on her mind he'd try and get it out of her to help her. She knew what he was like; she'd been exactly the same.

She didn't realise she'd been lost in thought for so long until she heard Wilson calling her name, bringing her out of her internal dilemma.

"No, it's nothing. Forget about it." She said hastily.

"Come on Allison, you can trust me."

"It's Emma." She corrected with a small smile, hoping to delay having to answer to give herself enough time to talk her mind out of what she was sure would be a very bad idea.

"Sorry, Emma." He smiled. Apart from Dr Hadley, Wilson was the first person to actually willingly call her Emma.

"Ok, but if I tell you this you have to promise not to tell House. You can't tell anyone or you could ruin the lives of a whole town full of people." Emma warned. Wilson nodded, unsure of where she was going with this. "Mr Gold's son, Neal, and Henry think that it might be something... magical." She started, registering the look in Wilson's eyes that told her he thought they were crazy, but also that he was willing to hear her out. "I..." She hesitated. "I am starting to have more and more reason to believe them."

The shock was written all over Wilson's face. Sitting in front of him was Alison Cameron, a rational doctor who had worked under the most cynical and narrow-minded man for three years, suggesting that there was such a thing as magic and that it could cure one of the patients in the hospital.

"Emma, are you seriously suggesting this?" He asked; hoping that it was some sort of joke.

"I know it's a lot to take in, believe me I've been there, but I'm starting to think that it's our only hope. The man who attacked him, Killian Jones, he's known for using magical poisons."

"You do realise this is completely insane, right?"

"You don't know the half of it." Emma replied with a slight laugh. "He also goes by the name Captain Hook." She sighed.

"Did House put you up to this?" Wilson asked.

"No he didn't. I just want to help Mr Gold... ummm, Rumplestiltskin." She said.

"So let me get this straight. You're saying that Captain Hook attacked Rumplestiltskin, who is the grandfather of your son?" He said in obvious disbelief. "Please don't tell me his grandmother is Cinderella." He joked.

"Actually, Snow White." Emma laughed.

"Ok now you're just taking this too far."

"I wish I was." She said sincerely. "Please don't tell anyone any of this. If these people were found there would be big trouble. Their home has already been destroyed; I can't put them in danger here as well."

"If I told anyone they'd think I was insane. Are you sure about all of this?"

"I know you don't believe me James but I need you to promise that if anything strange happens you will tell me before House."

"I will Emma." He replied.

"Thanks. I need to head back to Neal's apartment and call my mom. She wants an update on Gold's status. Have a good evening." She said, saying goodbye as she left the office.

As Wilson settled down to focus on the previously abandoned file in front of him again, he heard a rapping at his window. Cursing under his breath that he would never be able to catch a break and actually do his work, he got up and opened the door leading on to his balcony and let House in.

"What did Cameron want?" House asked.

"She wanted to know about the patient." He replied. "And she goes by Emma now. Unless you want to push her away again I think you should remember that."

"I do remember it. I just choose to ignore it." He said. Wilson noted that he didn't mention his comment about pushing her away again, which he took as a good sign, knowing that House never really stopped having feelings for the pretty young immunologist, even though he would never admit it to anyone. "Have you noticed anything strange about her?" He asked.

"Like what? That she has a kid? That she can now give almost as good as she gets when it comes to standing up to you?" He joked, trying to rid his thoughts of what Emma had just told him, passing it off as complete nonsense.

"She was talking on the phone to a woman named 'Snow' earlier, who was apparently her mom, about a guy named 'Hook'."

"And your point is...?" Wilson asked. "A lot of people have strange last names. What about 'House'?" He tried to push down the nagging feeling that there could be some truth in what Emma had said earlier.

"Then later she said that her parents were like Snow White and Prince Charming."

"You're obsessing, House. You know this is ridiculous but you just need a puzzle to work on and have focused on Emma's life. I'm not going to carry on enabling your every whim. Now get out of my office, some of us actually have patients to look after."

"I have a patient." House pointed out.

"One patient. You're not overseeing a whole ward full of cancer patients. Go play with your Gameboy or something just leave me alone."

House left his office and climbed back over to his balcony, but not before knocking the files off of his desk like a child trying to prove a point by having a strop.

As Wilson was trying to sort out the files he thought back to the two conversations he'd just had. He tried to rationalise what was said, thinking that he was just being crazy, but couldn't help thinking that there might be something to what House had said, after the conversation he'd had with Emma.


	9. Chapter 9

Back at Neal's apartment that evening, Emma was on the phone to Mary Margaret while Henry and his father were in the kitchen making dinner.

"_Does he believe you?"_ Snow asked when Emma told her about the conversation she'd had with Dr Wilson.

"I doubt it right now. He's a doctor, like me. We both know how long I took to believe Henry. He might be more open minded than my old boss but he's still going to need proof."

"_Are you sure telling him was the right thing to do, Emma?"_ She questioned, concerned both for her daughter and her friends in Storybrooke.

"I need someone to talk to here, someone with medical knowledge who can help me to help Gold if it comes to this. I trust him, Mary Margaret."

"_Well that's all I need to hear. You're a good judge of character."_

"Thanks mom." Emma smiled, unaware that her smile was being mirrored tenfold by the woman on the other end of the phone. "Have you heard back from Mother Superior yet?" There was a brief pause at the other end of the line as Snow tried to figure out how to break the news to her daughter.

"_It didn't work Emma. The fairy dust just turned into soot when we threw it over the town line. I'm sorry."_ She replied sadly.

"It's ok. We both knew it was a long shot."

"_Blue did say something though."_ Mary Margaret started. At this Emma felt her hope returning slightly. _"If Hook was able to use magical means to hurt Rumplestiltskin outside of Storybrooke, maybe there is still a way."_

"What do you mean? What can we do without fairy dust, short of bringing him back to Storybrooke? And believe me he would never survive the journey if we took him from the hospital now."

"_Think about it, Emma. You weren't affected by the curse."_

"So...?"

"_So you might still have a shot at being able to use magic there."_

"I have no idea how to even begin to use magic without Gold's help." Emma said. She knew that magic working in New Jersey would be almost impossible, but then again how many times had 'almost impossible' come true in her life recently?

"_You'll find a way, Emma. We'll always find a way, together."_

"I'll give it a go." She agreed.

"Emma, dinner's ready!" Neal called out from the kitchen.

"I've got to go Mary Margaret. I'll call you again as soon as there's any news." She said before exchanging goodbyes with her mother and hanging up her phone.

Later that evening, Emma found herself lying in bed musing over the events of the past couple of days. It seemed so hard to believe that it had only been a little over 24 hours since she'd discovered that Neal was Rumplestiltskin's son and now here she was, working with her former colleagues to solve another unsolvable case. Although this time she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe it was unsolvable, at least without bringing magic into the mix.

Now that she had told Wilson, she knew that she had someone else at the hospital to turn to if it came to that. Emma doubted that James believed her, but he'd been enabling House's insane thoughts and actions for years. It wasn't that much of a stretch to think he'd help her theory even if he was still telling himself it was crazy. He was still a good man though, and he would never tell anyone what she'd divulged to him that evening. The only way House would find out would be if, by some random moment of genius, he guessed it and somehow by an even more unlikely miracle, he believed it. Emma estimated that the odds of that happening must be higher than a billion to one.

But then, the odds of many things in her life that crazy happening always seemed pretty impossible, yet her she was in the apartment of her son's father who happened to be one of the only people outside of Storybrooke from the Enchanted Forest. Out of all the men in the world who she could've stolen her stolen car from it had been him: Baelfire. And of all the possible placed she could've found him outside of Storybrooke it had been the one place she was trying to avoid going back to, in an attempt to leave her own past behind as Dr Allison Cameron. It seemed that was another thing both she and Neal had in common.

Emma could tell she was starting to get into dangerous territory as her mind drifted to the hospital, specifically her ex husband and her former boss. She knew if she opened that can of worms she'd never get any sleep so she made a conscious decision to stop thinking about them and close herself off. Getting out of bed to make herself a hot cocoa, she resorted to listing various rare diseases in her mind, along with symptoms and risk factors. It was a tedious task that she was well practiced in after her years of working for House but it was one of the few ways she had found to close herself off from showing emotions and thinking about things that would bring up feelings she couldn't let herself succumb to. From being a doctor, she'd learnt how much it hurt to be too caring as she saw patients die every day. Taking a leaf out of House's book, she had begun to force herself to focus only on the medicine, not allowing her emotions to get in the way. Every time she did it she could feel the foundations of another wall being built around her heart, allowing herself to become the woman hardened off to the world: the woman who was now known as Emma Swan. Since meeting her family in Storybrooke, she'd found that she hadn't had to use this ritual at all, meaning that she was able to get close to her parents and her son and was starting to let them in. This was the first time since her 28th birthday that she'd started consciously building more solid walls, but she knew now that it was for her own protection; and for Henry's too. After everything that had happened she had to stay strong – for him.

After finishing her hot cocoa and washing up the empty mug, she settled back down into bed beside Henry and, eventually, was able to drift off to sleep.

The next morning, Henry and his parents made their way to the hospital as soon as they had finished breakfast to check on Mr Gold. Neal agreed that he would take Henry to Gold's room and look after him for the day, promising to take him to a nice cafe for lunch instead of buying hospital food from the cafeteria, which both of them were very happy about.

Emma made her way straight up to the diagnostics office, knowing that she would be able to get a more detailed update on Gold's status and their theories there, rather than reading the chart. From experience, she knew how bad House was at keeping records on patient's tests and would be able to get up to date quicker by asking his team.

Instead of walking in on them discussing their patient as she expected, they were sat around House's TV, which he had moved into the outer office so that they could all see it.

Upon closer inspection, she saw that they were watching a cartoon. More specifically: the Disney animated version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. They had reached the part where the dwarves were lining up to be kissed on the head by Snow White. Emma chuckled slightly at the scene, having not seen the film since discovering her parents' identities. She'd always liked when Dopey tried to get a second kiss, although she could never imagine him doing that in real life. It seemed they had Grumpy's reaction almost spot on, remembering how Leroy behaved when he was drunk.

"What are you doing?" She asked them, noticing a couple of members of the team jump slightly at her question after she had entered the room unannounced.

House, on the other hand, remained focused on the small screen. "Research." He stated, without taking his eyes away from the animation.

A momentary wave of panic flashed through Emma, thinking that Wilson must've told him, before realising that House was probably just responding to her comment when she compared her parents to the characters from the movie. Composing herself, she asked simply: "What research?"

"I wanted to see what your parents were like." House replied, and Emma had to take a second to reassure herself that he didn't know anything. "The kids are just here to keep me company until they can come up with a decent theory." He said, referring to his team.

Foreman looked over at Emma and rolled his eyes, indicating that he knew this was just House being, well... House. Having worked for him for the longest, he'd long since given up trying to understand his crazy logic and just went along with anything that wasn't endangering a patient's life.

"Yes they've portrayed my mother exactly right there House. She'd forever being followed by short people. She teaches the fifth grade." She sighed. "Although they missed out the fact that Snow White is completely badass and can take down an ogre with a bow and arrow." She said with a laugh that no one could tell was false. While everyone thought she was just joking, Emma was imagining one of the most terrifying moments of her life before she was saved by her mother who, a few days before the incident, had been nothing more than a timid school teacher. When she thought of it like that, she realised really how much had changed in her life since she'd last been to Princeton.

"Yes I can imagine her doing that. I always thought the 'fairest of them all' thing was a bit fake." Thirteen joked.

"Have you got _any_ more ideas about Mr Gold's condition?" Emma said, hoping to steer the conversation towards their comatose patient and away from her mother.

"No. Like I said, my team is useless." House said, still staring at the small TV screen.

"It's your job to come up with a diagnosis as well, House." Emma replied, talking to him as she would a child.

"Really? I thought it was to make their lives miserable and annoy Cuddy."

"Stop messing around House! That is my son's grandfather out there. They've only just found each other. Please don't take this away from them now. Get off your lazy ass and find out what's wrong with him!" She yelled. For a split second she could've sworn she saw a white light near her hands out of the corner of her eye, but brushed it off as her imagination. There was no way she could've generated magic then. They weren't in Storybrooke and she had no idea she was even doing it. She put it down to wishful thinking and an overactive imagination after everything that she'd been through.

Putting it to the back of her mind, she walked over to the sink and washed out a mug to start making herself some coffee. She was aware that House was still watching the Disney film, but at least her rant had had some effect as the rest of the team started discussing their case.

After half an hour they had got nowhere with their diagnosis, jumping backwards and forward between past ideas with inconclusive tests and occasionally throwing in ridiculous theories only marginally matching Mr Gold's symptoms. The film had finally finished, meaning that House could focus on the differential and Emma was able to give it her full attention as well. She'd found herself inwardly cringing at how wrong they got the characters and the story, knowing that it was her inner perfectionist talking. She made a mental note to sit down with Snow and watch it when they got back to Storybrooke, knowing that her mother's reaction would undoubtedly be hilarious.

Everyone soon realised that they were getting no closer to any form of theory, let alone a solid diagnosis. House decided to get his team to run a series of random tests: MRIs, x-rays, blood tests, tox screens, anything that anyone could think of in hope of finding some random anomaly that could trigger some genius theory. They all knew it was a long shot that they would find anything remotely useful but neither House nor Emma would give up on this case until they had an answer.


	10. Chapter 10

**A massive thanks to everyone who has reviewed the last few chapters :) you're all amazing! Knowing that people are reading and enjoying this really motivates me to write more for you :) I hope you like this chapter just as much!**

As Emma was no longer a doctor at PPTH she couldn't do much to help with the tests that the team were conducting. She did, however, accompany them to Mr Gold's room to explain what was happening to Henry and Neal and get consent for the procedures.

"Mom!" Henry yelled as he saw her and the other doctors approaching. "Do you guys know what's wrong with Rumplest... urmm... Mr Gold yet?" He asked. Emma hoped that none of her former colleagues had noticed her son's slip-up.

"Not yet kid, but we are working on it. They are going to do all they can to help, I promise."

"I know you'll be able to do it. You're the Savior. You're special." Henry smiled, looking up at his mom with an expression of adoration that only a child could have for his parents.

"Dr House's team are all amazing doctors. Between us we will help him." She said. Turning to Neal, she continued. "Neal, can I have a word with you outside for a second?"

Neal rose from his seat next to his father's bed and followed Emma into the corridor of the hospital. Emma made sure that she could see Henry through the glass wall, feeling slightly uncertain about leaving him alone with the other doctors as she was worried he might accidentally blow their secret. He didn't exactly have much of an interest in keeping silent. Luckily, he looked up and caught her eye through the glass, letting her know with a look that he was not stupid and wouldn't say anything. With that allowing her mind to rest briefly, she turned her attention back to the man she was standing with.

"What is it, Emma?" He asked.

Emma ran a hand through her hair as she thought of what she was going to say. "It's not looking great. Your dad is stable but House still has no idea what's wrong with him. The team are basically turning to a last resort and want to test whatever they can for anything that they can think of remotely explaining his symptoms. It's a long shot and not the best approach, and normally of course I wouldn't be telling you this, but it's all we can do right now."

Neal was starting to look worried.

"What about what the Blue Fairy said?" He asked, referring to what she'd told him and Henry the night before over dinner. Normally he would be the last person to suggest using magic, having seen how such a power had corrupted his father, but they were out of other ideas and getting desperate.

What neither of them had noticed is that House had made his way down to the patient's room, hoping to talk to Emma. Upon seeing her in a hushed conversation with Mr Gold's son, his curiosity got the better of him and he stayed out of sign, just close enough to hear what was being said in their low voices.

"I don't know Neal. I have no idea if I can even do that here."

"You have to try, Emma. Please."

Emma sighed, knowing that eventually it would've come down to this. "I can't promise anything Neal. The only times I've ever used magic was when Cora tried to rip my heart out or under your dad's supervision and instruction." She replied.

"When Cora tried to do what?" Neal exclaimed, raising his voice slightly but not enough to catch the interest of anyone passing by. He had heard of Cora when Emma was explaining the story behind Hook's attack but never knew how she had tried to hurt her.

"Keep your voice down!" Emma hissed. "It's nothing. She couldn't do it, that's all that matters right now." She said, trying to downplay the terrifying moment when she thought that Cora was going to kill both her and Snow. "We need your consent to do these tests on Gold." She said, turning the conversation back around to the medicine and away from the dangerous territory that it was moving in to.

Neal took the offered consent form and pen and signed at the bottom, before handing it back to Emma after she had explained the procedures briefly, stating the risks and uses of each one.

"Don't mention anything about magic to Henry yet, I want to wait until we get back to yours and talk in private." She explained. Neal nodded and opened the door to Mr Gold's room, allowing Emma to enter before him. She handed the signed consent form to Taub as Thirteen moved over to draw blood.

Outside the patient's room, House was thinking over what Emma had said about using magic. The rational part of his mind, the part he always listened to as he believed that the specialized functions of his right brain were of little use to him, told him he must've misheard her but he couldn't think of what else he might have mistaken what she said for. He was certain he'd heard something about a Cara or Cora or someone ripping her heart out but when he realized how ridiculous that sounded he tried to push it to the back of his mind. Deciding that he needed some time to think things over, and hopefully come up with the answer to one of his current puzzles, House headed back to his office and sat at his desk, taking his infamous red and grey ball, and began to throw it rhythmically against the wall as he allowed his mind to work through everything that had happened.

Meanwhile, House's team had finished in Mr Gold's room and were headed to the pathology lab to set up the tests. That way, they figured, they could be working while the patient was having an MRI. After leaving with the other doctors, Emma excused herself and made her way up to Wilson's office, hoping to talk to him about the day before.

She knocked on the door, hoping that he wasn't busy with a patient, and entered the office upon being invited in by the oncologist.

"Emma, how can I help?" He asked politely, unsure of whether off not he should bring up their recent conversation.

"House has no idea what's wrong with Mr Gold." She started.

"And you're still not sure he will find something?" Wilson asked.

Emma shook her head. "I've spoken to someone who knows a bit about _it_." She said. "And she thinks there's a possibility that I could help him."

"You mean... you can use magic?" He asked, not believing that those words had actually passed through his lips. It was definitely not something that he would ever admit to saying, had anyone ever asked him.

"I..." Emma hesitated. "I have in the past, but I have no idea how to control it. The only person who really knows is in a coma two floors below us. Other than him, no one knows how magic works outside of Storybrooke except perhaps Henry's adoptive mother who, I'm sure you can imagine, has no desire to help any of our family."

"You've used magic?" He asked again in shock, surprised that Emma could talk about it so _normally_.

"Only a couple of times, neither of which I want to go in to right now, if you don't mind." She replied politely, unwilling to explain the scenarios behind her having to use magic. "What I will say is that I wasn't affected by the curse that means that Mr Gold can't use magic outside of Storybrooke, and my magic has, apparently, always been inside of me because I'm the product of true love."

"The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Wilson asked.

Emma looked shocked. "How did you know?" She asked.

"You said Snow White was Henry's grandmother. I'm no expert on fairy tales but I know enough to know that Snow White didn't have a son with Rumplestiltskin." Emma looked at him with a look that told him to tell her the truth. "Ok, House might have mentioned something." He said guiltily.

"House knows!" She yelled. "You promised you wouldn't!"

Wilson was about to respond when he saw a white light surrounding Emma's hands.

"Emma! Your hands!" He exclaimed. "Cameron!" He screamed when he got no response. It seemed the use of her old name brought her back to reality as the light disappeared from around her.

"What?" She asked, annoyed.

"Your hands, they were glowing." He said.

Emma sunk back into Wilson's sofa, trying to process what had happened.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" She asked, worried.

"No, why would you say that?"

"The first time I used magic I was scared, terrified. My mom was being attacked and I stepped in to save her then this white light sort of came out of me and knocked her away from us." Emma explained. "It was just like the light I thought I saw earlier when I was angry at House, and what you saw just now."

"This is too weird." Wilson said, looking away from Emma and down at his desk. "And just so that you know, I didn't tell House. He came in here after you'd left and started talking about Snow White and Prince Charming and how you said your parents were like them. I just connected the dots." He explained, hoping that he didn't set Emma's emotions off again now that he knew how powerful she could be.

"Oh." She said. "I'm sorry I thought you'd... never mind." Emma said. Wilson looked up again to see the look of such a lost girl being worn on the blonde woman's face.

Moving over to sit with Emma on his sofa, Wilson took a leap as to what was bothering the young doctor. "You still love him, don't you?" He asked.

"What makes you say that?" She said, trying not to let him know how right he was.

"You were so worried about him finding out. I know you, Cameron, you care about people and want to protect them. You want to protect your friends and family back in Maine. But this is more than that. House finding out about..." He paused, still uncomfortable saying it out loud because of how ridiculous it sounded. "You don't feel ready to take that risk yet. That's why you chose to tell me, because you couldn't speak to him about it."

Emma was silent as she thought over Wilson's argument. Deep down, she knew that what he said was right, that her fear of House finding out went beyond her loyalty and caring towards the people living in Storybrooke.

"What happens if I can't control this?" Emma asked. "What if I hurt someone?"

"You won't. You could never hurt someone and I believe that you have the strength to control yourself." He replied. He didn't have a clue how Emma's magic worked but he knew the situations she'd been put in while working at the hospital with him, things that had taken all her self-restraint not to completely flip out, and not once had anything like this ever happened. Just because she knew something else about herself, it didn't make her any less the kind young doctor that she had been when he knew her before.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a rapping at the window and Wilson sighed, knowing without even turning his head that it was House, probably with another crazy, although maybe equally true, theory about Emma or Mr Gold.

Without waiting to be invited in, House opened the door to Wilson's balcony and limped into his office.

"I need to talk about Cameron." He said, not registering the identity of the blonde woman sitting next to his best friend and simply assuming that she was a patient.

"I'd rather you didn't gossip about me behind my back House." She said, looking up at him.

"Oh, Cameron. You're here. I thought you'd be with your kid."

"I needed to talk to James about something. By all means though, don't let my being here interrupt your important conversation about me." She said sarcastically.

Turning back to Wilson, House pretended to continue is conversation. "I want Cameron. I'm want her hot, naked and sweaty in my bed. Do you think that other guy she came here with would mind?" He joked.

Emma tried to hide a blush, but wasn't going to back down.

"House..." Wilson started.

"I'm sure there is nothing she would rather be doing." Emma smirked.

"Don't you mean 'no one she would rather be doing'?" House asked, earning himself a glare from the young blonde in front of him. "On second thoughts, Cameron, I'd rather talk to you." He said, leaving his office and gesturing for her to come with him. "I overheard a rather interesting conversation between you and our patient's son earlier."


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you to all my lovely readers for reviewing, following and favouriting this story :) It means so much to me. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've go loads of exams to study for. I'll be finished in two weeks though so I'll try and update after that :)**

**I hope this chapter makes up for the wait ;)**

"What do you want, House?" Emma said as they made their way into his office.

House mimed zipping his lips shut and throwing away an invisible key, before moving over to his beloved whiteboard. On the board he wrote _"Use your 'magic' to work it out."_

Emma rolled her eyes, not in the mood for House's games. She had thought she'd be able to leave them behind when he left his team until he followed her to the ER. Even now after moving away from the hospital completely she couldn't get away from it.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him. House merely pointed to his closed mouth and shook his head. "Ok, fine. I'll bite. What do you want?"

"_I don't want you to bite. I'm not into that kinky stuff."_ He wrote, causing Emma to groan in frustration.

"Is this about what Neal and I were talking about outside Gold's room?" House nodded. "He just understands that diagnostics is difficult so we've got used to calling it 'magic' around Henry and it sort of stuck."

"You're a terrible liar." House said. "You should get your boyfriend sent up to the psych ward. Get your son checked out too, he seems to think your nun friend is a fairy. It could be hereditary."

"Yeah sure, I'll get right on that." Emma joked. "Now is that everything?" She asked.

"Not quite. Do you have a copy of Pinocchio, the Disney version?" Emma raised a questioning eyebrow, trying to hide the fact that she was worried about how close House was getting to their secret. "The movie store was all out and I need to do some research on your kid's shrink. He can't be very good if he missed such an obvious psychiatric disorder."

"My son does not have a mental illness House! You're seeing problems where there are none. You think that me moving away to a small town to be with my family is some big mystery but it's not!" She replied, raising her voice slightly. Remembering what had happened back in Wilson's office; she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. Emma hoped that if she had started to produce magic it had gone unnoticed by House.

She ran a shaky hand through her long hair in frustration before continuing her argument. "Henry has a wild imagination, we both know that, but he's not crazy. He's probably the most sane person in our whole family."

"In that case I have to meet your parents. Crazy people interest me, you know that."

"You're not going to give up on this are you?" Emma asked warily.

"Of course not. I want to talk to Snow White." House said, pouting like a child.

Emma wished at that moment that they could just go back to Storybrooke. House was really starting to try her patience after only a couple of days and she was starting to wonder how she had managed to put up with him for so long. She was considering giving in and just phoning Snow to stop House's teasing but was saved from doing so when his pager started to beep.

"Don't even think about clenching." He warned, making no move to stop the beeping device. "Do I have to remind you that when you clench, I clench and then there's this whole thing..."

"Just answer it. It could be to do with Mr Gold."

House reached for his pager. "Patient's woken up from his coma and gone mental." He said. "We should probably get down there."

Emma was already half way out the door when House grabbed her wrist and spun her back around, placing a passionate kiss on her lips. Shocked, Emma hesitated before reciprocating the kiss. It was nothing like the first time they had kissed: gentle and hesitant. It was fierce, as if they were letting out all of the built up sexual tension since she had first started working for House years ago in this one kiss. House let go of Emma's wrist and pulled her closer with a gentle arm around her waist as she ran her hands through his short hair. Emma moaned slightly into the kiss and she felt House's lips turn up into a small smile against hers.

Eventually they broke apart, slightly out of breath and more flushed; particularly on Emma's part.

"What was that for?" Emma asked.

"Crazy psycho patients turn me on." House teased. "And you look hot in that leather jacket." He winked, before limping passed a shocked Emma and heading to Mr Gold's room.

After taking a couple of seconds to snap herself back into reality, Emma followed House to the elevator. Unfortunately, she didn't make it in time to catch the same one as him so was left waiting until it came back up. Tapping her foot impatiently, she cursed House for kissing her. She'd tried for so long to repress her feeling for him and didn't think that she could stand it if he was an ass about what had happened. It wasn't that she expected any different from him, though. She knew the chances were slim to none, but she secretly hoped that he would change for her.

By the time she reached Mr Gold's room, Thirteen was ushering Henry and Neal outside so that they could tend to him more easily.

In between his screaming, Gold must have noticed Emma entering his room as he said her name, somewhat exhaustedly, before screaming again.

"My shawl!" He shouted. "Bae... Bae's shawl. Emma, I need it." He said, finally managing to form a semi-coherent sentence.

"Someone give him diazepam!" House yelled and Foreman reached for a syringe from a nearby unit.

"No, wait!" Emma interrupted, walking over to the side of Gold's bed. "Mr Gold, you're in the hospital. You need to calm down."

"You know I need that shawl! I can't forget! I can't!" He yelled. His voice grew weaker. "I've just found him, my Bae. Miss Swan, please."

Emma looked around at her former colleagues and asked them to leave so that she could have a moment alone with Gold, knowing that they couldn't talk openly while they were there. Once they had left, Emma turned back around to face Mr Gold.

"Do you know your name? Where you are from?" She asked him.

"Rumplestiltskin." He replied, apparently angry at her for wasting his time with such a question. "I'm from a land with magic."

"The Enchanted Forest." Emma prompted. "You remember. Gold, I don't think you need it now that you are over the town line."

"With all due respect, Miss Swan, you don't know the first thing about magic."

"You might be right, but I've felt myself using it here."

"But that's not possible, dearie."

"Well whether or not I did isn't relevant right now. You're still very ill from whatever poison Hook used when he stabbed you and you need to rest while we figure out how to get you better so that we can go home to Storybrooke." She explained.

"Excuse me, dearie, but 'we'?"

"Yes. I'm helping with your case."

"I'd rather not put my life in the hands of any of these idiots, least of all you."

"You had no problem doing it before, and I wasn't even born then." Emma argued, before sighing and running a hand through her hair as she tried to find a way to reason with Gold. Realising that it probably wasn't even the wisest idea to attempt it, she settled for telling him that he should rest and that the other doctors would be in at some point to ask him some questions. "I don't think I need to remind you that you can't say anything about your... our world to them."

"Of course not, Miss Swan." He said curtly as Emma turned around and left the room.

"He's calm now and I've told him you'll be in to ask him some questions soon." She updated the team, who were sat on some chairs outside of Gold's room.

"Emma?" Neal spoke up. "Can I go in and see him first? I need to talk to him."

Emma agreed, despite House's protests, and let Neal visit his father for the first time since he was a child.

"Do you guys mind if I sit the rest of the day out. I need to look after Henry." Emma said.

"But Cameron, I thought you'd _love_ to spend more time with me." House teased.

"You're a jerk. I don't see why I should want to be around you any more than I have to."

"You know, it's really not good to send a man mixed signals." He replied.

"I thought I was being perfectly clear." She huffed. "Come on, kid. Let's get some lunch. We can bring something up for Neal and Gold as well." Emma led Henry away and towards the cafeteria.

"What was that about?" Taub asked.

"I can't answer that. I never kiss and tell." House replied, before standing up and walking back towards his office.

"You kissed Cameron?" Thirteen asked.

"Why? Are you jealous? Did you want to kiss her? Because if you do you'd better film it. I don't want to miss any hot lesbian action going on between my team."

"You're an ass, House."

"That seems to be a popular opinion today. I think you chicks dig it really."

"Of course we do." She sighed, figuring that agreeing would move the conversation on to the patient quicker than arguing.

Once they had reached the differential room, Chase was quick to change the subject away from his ex-wife and back to their patient.

"So now we have temporary psychosis, infection, low white count and spontaneous recovery from a rather deep coma." He said.

"And an angry Australian." House finished. "Trouble in paradise? Not enough single girls for you to shag so you want to go back to Cameron?"

"Shut up House."

"Maybe his white count increased on its own, causing him to wake up from his coma. We should re-do his blood work." Foreman suggested.

"That doesn't explain the psychosis."

"He looked more scared than psychotic." Thirteen countered. "He was lucid enough to recognise Emma."

After fifteen more minutes of throwing back and forth new and old ideas they hadn't come up with any perfect theories so decided to check his blood and gather a history from Mr Gold.

House was left alone in his office, throwing his ball against the wall as he tried to work through the past half hour in his mind. He was trying to figure out their case, looking for any seemingly insignificant detail that might lead to them curing the guy, but his thoughts kept drifting back to his kiss with Cameron... no... Emma, he mentally corrected himself. As stubborn as he was, he had to admit that Wilson was right. He was never going to get the girl if he pissed her off every time they spoke by calling her Cameron. It had reached the point where he could no longer deny his feelings for her to himself. It had taken him about seven years to admit he liked her and even then he'd never said it out loud. But they do say that actions speak louder than words and that kiss... that kiss was incredible. It was everything he'd ever imagined it to be (not that he'd ever admit to imagining kissing Cameron. _Emma! Damn it!_) and, as cliché as it sounded, even better. So, of course, his knee-jerk reaction was to run away and not talk to her. He could imagine how the conversation would go anyway. She'd call him something insulting, tell him he'd missed his chance and that she was happy with her boyfriend and her son. There was no room for him in her life anymore and he knew it. He realised that his best course of action would be to talk to Wilson, the expert at starting relationships as he'd managed to convince three poor women to marry him, but almost couldn't bring himself to out of pride.

Pushing that damn feeling of pride down he got up and walked to the balcony that led to his friend's office, so as to avoid running in to anyone in the corridor. He knocked his cane on the glass door to get Wilson's attention, who sighed and signalled for him to come in.

"I kissed Cameron." He stated before the door had even closed behind him.

"Emma." Wilson corrected automatically, before realisation dawned in his eyes. "Wait! You what?" He exclaimed, getting to his feet.

"I kissed her."

"And?" He questioned.

"And then I walked off."

"What?"

"Our patient woke up."

"You kissed Emma?" House nodded. "You kissed the woman you've been in love with for years and who has loved you for just as long and then just walked off without saying a word?"

"Not exactly."

"Please tell me you didn't insult her."

"I called her hot."

"Well that's better than nothing." He figured as he sat back down behind his desk. "Have you spoken to her since?"

"I made fun of her in front of my team." House admitted.

"You're an idiot. What did she do?"

"Insulted me and walked off. Come on, Wilson. You've wanted this to happen for years. I bet you've got a plan all figured out." He said, before adding "With flow charts. What should I do?"

"I think you should be grateful that she didn't hit you." Wilson answered honestly. "She's been in love with you since she started working for you and then you kiss her and publically humiliate her. That's cruel even by your standards, House. You need to fix this. Now."

"What is there to fix? She hated me before. She hates me now. She's got a boyfriend."

"Neal isn't her boyfriend. They've only just got back in touch. Come on, House, you're usually the first to figure things like this out. You're blind to relationship details in front of her."

"Which is why I'm asking my good friend Jimmy for help, since he's an expert at making women fall in love with him."

"Talk to her."

"What?"

"Talk to her. Now. The longer you wait the more she'll have time to hate you and the harder it will be for you to win her back."

House sighed, trying to think of a way around it, but his mind came up blank for the first time that he could remember. Wilson was right. He was blind when it came to Emma. He couldn't think clearly and there was no way he'd solve the case if his mind was on her instead of processing every detail to find the answer. Yes, that was it. That's why he needed to talk to her. He couldn't solve the case with this hanging over his head. He got up and headed for the door, but not before grabbing the five dollar bill on Wilson's desk.

"House." Wilson warned, holding out his hand and indicating he wanted the money back.

"Lunch money." House replied as justification for taking it.

"Fine, just don't screw this up."

"I'm buying lunch. Pretty hard for me to screw that up. I'll be sure to pass your warning on to the person who serves me my Reuben though."

Wilson just sighed and let him leave, hoping that he stopped being a stubborn ass for long enough to have one conversation with Emma without leaving things even more of a mess than they already were.

House made his way down to the cafeteria, where Emma had said she'd be, half hoping that she would have left. He had no such luck, however, as his eyes fell on her gorgeous face on the other side of the room.

**Hope you liked it :) I love reading every review and they would really help me through this torturous revision so if you have a minute I'd love to hear what you thought :) x  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm so sorry again for the wait. I hope this chapter makes up for it :) sorry for any mistakes, half of this was written on my iPad. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I love you all :)**

House could do nothing but stare at her for a few moments. Half of him was stalling because he was losing his nerve and wasn't sure that he could go up to her any more. The other half was simply awestruck by her beauty. Sure, her looks are what had led him to hire her all those years ago but she was barely out of medical school then. Now his Cameron was stronger and more confident, something that just made her even more attractive to him. Wait, when did she become 'his Cameron'? He shook his head as if trying to get rid of the thought. He couldn't think of her like that yet. There was still a very big chance that this could go horribly wrong. Damn, he hoped he didn't screw up too badly. He didn't know if he could stand losing her again when he was so close.

After Stacy, he was worried that he wouldn't find a woman who he could love and trust fully. When she left she'd cruelly taken away his heart and a chunk out of his leg, but Emma was on her way to returning the former. Unfortunately his leg was a lost cause and House almost found himself wishing that this whole 'magic' thing he had teased her about earlier was real and he could somehow gain the dead muscle tissue in his leg back. Almost as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, however, he dismissed it; scolding himself for thinking something so ridiculous. This new case was really getting to him, he figured, if he was wishing for magical solutions to his problems.

Deciding that it was best to bite the metaphorical bullet, he made his was confidently (or in a way that he hoped looked confident) over to the table where she was sat with her son.

"Cam... Emma." He corrected himself once he reached her table, remembering what Wilson had mentioned to him before.

"What do you want House?" She asked coldly.

"We need to talk."

"Now isn't the time." Emma replied, looking at her son.

House sat down at the table that Emma and Henry were sharing and turned to face his former colleague.

"Shoo." He said to Henry.

"No, my mom doesn't want to talk to you." The young boy replied.

"Go and annoy your dad. Your mom and I need to talk about grown up stuff." House said patronisingly.

"I'm not five." Henry protested. House glared at him, causing Henry to glare back. For some reason, House noticed that the kid didn't seem to be afraid of him like most other kids.

"Henry, why don't you just go and see Neal?" Emma sighed reluctantly, knowing that there would be no getting out of this conversation. "We'll walk you there on the way to Dr House's office."

House smiled triumphantly as Emma and Henry got up from the table and they walked through the hospital corridors. It was only once they'd left Henry in his patient's room and they fell into an uncomfortable silence that he actually realised he'd have to talk to her about the kiss. If he was honest he'd not looked further ahead than getting her to talk to him and now had no idea what he would say.

Once they reached his office, House sat down behind his desk, allowing himself to feel a bit of control over the situation. Emma took a seat opposite him, mirroring the positions that they were sat in the first time they met during her interview. She remembered clearly his constant sarcastic remarks and the instant attraction she'd felt towards him. Back then she'd doubted, even with her impressive resume, that she would actually get the fellowship. She'd felt so proud that she was hired that it was like a kick in the teeth when House told her it was only because of her looks and his obsessive need to solve a puzzle. Looking back, she definitely didn't regret leaving his team and working in the ER instead, no matter how much she was in love with him.

The pair of them sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Emma vowed not to be the first one to talk, this was House's idea after all. She stared at him, waiting, daring him to make the first move. This way she would know if he was apologising for being such a monumental ass or just trying to annoy her even more. Years of experience had taught her not to hold her breath for an apology with this man. After all, in 'House-land', and much to her dismay often the real world, House was always right. To him apologies were rarely necessary and even more sparsely given. This is why the next words that came out of his mouth were such a shock to her.

"I'm sorry." He said abruptly, before leaning back on his seat and throwing his infamous red and grey ball in the air and catching it repeatedly.

"For..." Emma prompted after giving herself a couple of seconds to process what he said. After how he'd treated her she wasn't planning on making this easy for him.

House bit back the numerous sarcastic comments and insults floating around in his head at the image of Wilson warning him to be nice and not mess things up with Cameron... Emma again.

"For kissing you and telling my team about it."

"Wait, what? You told them? When?"

"After you left with the kid." He answered.

"I knew you could be cruel sometimes, House, but this is a new low even for you. You told my ex-husband and the rest of your team we kissed before you'd even spoken to me about it!"

House scoffed. "Like you didn't do exactly the same thing by telling Foreman and Chase about the date I agreed to take you on." He replied childishly.

"You had to bring that up, didn't you?" Emma asked rhetorically. "You know what? I'm not even sure why I agreed to talk to you about this. Well done for proving yourself right: people don't change."

Turning on her heel, she started to leave House's office. It was then that he realised he really couldn't stand to lose her again, which was exactly what was going to happen when he solved his case unless he did something about it.

"I love you." He said simply, his voice calm and not betraying the nerves that he was feeling.

Without looking over her shoulder, Emma stopped. "You don't even know what love is any more." Came her cold reply. She left the office without another word and headed down to Mr Gold's room.

As she walked past the glass windows she could see Henry talking animatedly to Neal. Gold was sitting quietly in the background and Emma couldn't tell if he simply didn't want to interrupt or he was plotting something. If she was honest it looked to her like he was plotting something all the time. Deciding not to interrupt them, she continued walking until she found herself outside Lisa Cuddy's office. She knocked on the door and heard her former boss' voice inviting her inside.

"Cameron, hi." Cuddy smiled. "Oh sorry, Emma." She corrected herself.

"Lisa." Emma greeted, returning the smile. "Are you busy?"

"Not at the moment."

"I need to talk to you about House."

"Is this a 'House is being reckless and you're going to need a lawyer' talk or a 'House is being an ass and I need to rant about him' talk?" Lisa asked, minimising the spreadsheets she was completing on her computer.

"The latter."

"What did he do?"

"He told me he loves me."

"What? When did this happen?"

"Just now. He kissed me earlier as well."

"Well I can't really say I'm surprised. He's liked you for years. I'm just amazed he's actually finally done something about it."

"I think I screwed up though." Emma admitted before explaining to her friend what happened between them.

Despite knowing House for most of her adult life, Lisa was still amazed by how he acted from time to time. He was the smartest person she knew by a long way but he didn't have the first clue when it came to women.

"You need to go back and talk to him properly." Lisa advised. "Before he does something too reckless." She warned.

"I know I should but I don't know what to say."

"Do you feel the same about him?" She asked.

"I think so but it's complicated. I have a family now and I can't just up and leave them to move back here."

"What if you invite him back with you?"

"That's probably an even worse idea." Emma laughed, picturing the look on House's face when he walked around a town with a load of fairy take characters. How would she explain Regina, Gold and the Blue Fairy using magic? Or what would happen if he ran in to Ruby on a full moon? She didn't want to risk it.

"You still need to smooth things over with him though." Cuddy persisted, knowing that this had been such a long time coming that she just wanted to see her friends happy together now. Yes, she had a history with House but anyone could see that Emma is who he was really meant to be with.

Emma nodded, knowing that the older woman was right. Thanking her for her advice, she left the office to find House in the clinic yelling at some poor kid who's only fault was probably being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"House, we need to talk in your office." She said confidently, although inside her stomach was filled with butterflies.

She was never any good at opening up and talking about her feelings. She'd learnt as a child that it only led to pain and this belief was only reinforced when Neal left her to go to jail for a crime that he committed. Her work at the hospital had allowed her the emotional outlet of caring for others without having to face up to her own issues. Since then the only person she could really open up to was Mary Margaret. Even before the curse broke, Emma had felt a strong connection to the young woman. As much as she hated it, she often found herself wanting to open up to her roommate. It had been hard at first but over time Mary Margaret managed to break down the walls Emma had spent years building to protect her heart, and Emma didn't even think she minded.

House turned to face her and the little kid he had been yelling at ran away crying to his mother, who was sat in the waiting area of the clinic.

"So now you want to talk." He said as he closed his office door behind them. They had walked up in silence, reminding them both of how they'd acted on the way back from the cafeteria for their first 'talk'. "Earlier you ran away because you were feeling vulnerable but now that it's at your suggestion you have a false feeling of power over the situation." He told her as he walked back behind his desk. Emma stayed standing, her arms folded defensively. House knew by her body language that what he had just said was right and smiled smugly.

"If you wanted to make things better you're going about it completely the wrong way." Emma pointed out. "Did you mean what you said?" She asked.

"Yes, not that it probably makes any difference to whether or not you believe me."

"Can you not answer a single question without making some snarky comment?" She asked rhetorically, her patience already wearing thin.

"Fine. Yes, I did mean it. And I am sorry for kissing you." He said sincerely, obviously realising just how close he was coming to pushing Emma so far away that he'd never be able to win her back.

"I'm not mad that you kissed me." She admitted. "I'm hurt because of how you acted afterwards."

"I'm sorry." He repeated. Emma's gaze softened slightly but she didn't move from her defensive stance. She still couldn't risk letting her guard down around him. "Give me until the end of this case to prove it to you." He suggested, hoping that she'd accept it.

Emma thought about it for a moment. "Fine, but if this turns out to be another stupid bet between you and Wilson I'm leaving and you won't see me coming here again." She warned.

House merely nodded, knowing that now wasn't the time for him to turn her last comment I to an innuendo.

At that moment, House's team came in to the office.

"I should go and check on Henry." Emma said, not wanting to risk anyone making a comment about what House had told them earlier. She gave House a small smile and nodded towards the rest of the team before leaving through the glass doors and making her way to Mr Gold's room.

House half-listened to the team as they listed everything they'd managed to rule out but for once his mind wasn't on the medical puzzle, but on his conversation with Cameron and the puzzle behind her life that he was still trying to unravel.


End file.
